Daily Archives: February 11, 2013

The abundance of hats in Dr. Seuss’ books is no coincidence, as Theodore Geisel loved unusual and distinctive hats and owned a collection numbered in the hundreds, The New York Times reported. Random House Children’s Books and Dr. Seuss Enterprises are collaborating on an exhibit at the New York Public Library to showcase Geisel’s hat collection, which opened on Feb. 6 and coincides with the 75th anniversary of Seuss’ book, “The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins.” The hats brought personality and humor to Seuss’ characters just as they did activities in his everyday life, curator of the hat exhibit Robert Chase said. Guests at the Geisel home were occasionally required to don the most outrageous hats for dinner parties as well, according to the article.

Cornell University’s Student Assembly passed a resolution last Thursday calling for the university to divest its endowment from fossil fuel by the end of 2020, The Cornell Daily Sun reported. The resolution also stipulated that Cornell invest 30 percent of the divested money in improved sustainability initiatives. Students from the climate justice organization Kyoto Now began advocating for the policy change about a year ago. The resolution puts pressure on Cornell’s administration to take its commitment to improving sustainability more seriously. Some members of the Student Assembly anticipate opposition from the Board of Trustees and administrators, while others fear that there may be negative economic consequences of divestment, The Cornell Daily Sun reported.

An online course offered through a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania and Coursera may soon become the first online class in the country that can be taken for credit, The Daily Pennsylvanian reported. The American Council on Education recommended that students taking a Penn single variable calculus course through Coursera may receive university credit. Colleges and universities, including Penn, will decide individually if they will award credit for online courses. On Feb. 7, Penn administrators made clear that the university would not earn Penn credit for the Coursera calculus course. The council’s recommendation has sparked discussion about the changes Coursera has catalyzed since its inception only 10 months ago.

Before last winter, Alex Howe ’08 was a struggling freelance writer hoping to make more connections in the literary world. Now, a year later, Howe is still struggling to pay the rent on his New York City apartment with a day job at the law offirm Weitz and Luxenberg, but by night, he has become an access point for other young writers looking to break into the literary magazine industry.

Last October, Howe, along with Travis Mushett ’08 and Kevin Tang ’08 began working to launch Blunderbuss Magazine, an online journal for young intellectuals. Tang, a recent graduate of the creative writing master’s program at Columbia University, works for Buzzfeed, while Mushett is pursuing a PhD at Columbia’s journalism school.

The magazine tentatively plans to launch in late March, and the editors are planning an April 14 launch at KGB bar, a literary bar in the East Village. The event will feature multiple readings from the first edition of Blunderbuss.

The magazine’s editorial board also includes three other members of the Class of 2008 as contributing editors: Meredith Fraser ’08, Niral Shah ’08 and Lauren Wool ’08.

“For now, the magazine is our passion project,” Howe said. “We want it to take up as much of our free time as possible, until eventually we find a way to pay our rent.”

The founding trio hatched the idea for the magazine as they pondered the current state of intellectual magazines over drinks, Mushett said. Many up-and-coming magazines such as n+1 cater to a select audience and often require an understanding of complex literary theories.

“We wanted to add a voice that wasn’t so esoteric,” Mushett said. “We wanted to be a part of the conversation and contribute a lively, acceptable, visual, even passionate tone.”

Howe, Mushett and Tang became friends while taking creative writing seminars at Dartmouth. The three quickly bonded over their work and efforts to find a niche for their interests at the College.

The three took part in many writing-related endeavors on campus, including writing for The Dartmouth and The Dartmouth Free Press. Howe’s own interest in creative writing began when he had to try writing poetry for his first creative writing class, he said.

Howe wrote a column called “Alex Got in Trouble” for The Dartmouth Mirror, in which he chronicled his adventures while suspended from the College for a year.

“It was one of the most satisfying creative writing projects I have ever taken on,” he said.

Tang is also a former member of The Dartmouth staff and was a design artist for The Mirror, he said. One of his main responsibilities for Blunderbuss Magazine is the design and management of the website, he said.

Mushett is the former editor-in-chief of The Dartmouth Free Press. He also enjoyed taking on large-scale writing projects, including completing a novel in his time at school, he said.

Howe, Mushett and Tang reconnected last year, when they discovered that they were all living and working in New York City.

Shortly afterward, they found a number of young New York-based alumni who shared their interest in the literary scene for young intellectuals.

“At Dartmouth, we were each doing our own thing,” Tang said. “We never knew that there were like-minded people who were so interested in creating a literary magazine.”

A number of contributing writers for the first edition of the magazine are Dartmouth alumni, as well as friends of editors and professors from Dartmouth, New York University and Columbia, Howe said.

The editors will also contribute essays and reviews of up-and-coming writers and artists. Tang is currently working on a review of internet comic artist Sam Alden, who plans to contribute to the magazine.

Tang said it was “really exciting” to hear back from Dartmouth professors and fellow alumni that wanted to be involved with the magazine.

He said he was especially looking forward to including a piece from English professor Catherine Tudish, from whom Tang took a creative writing class while he was an undergraduate.

“These are professors who advised our theses,” Tang said. “Now they are submitting their work for us to edit. We were honored to get so much attention.”

Tudish is proud to see her students pursue their passion.

“The alums involved in the magazine are former students of mine, all of them students I particularly admired,” she said in an email.

Unlike more traditional magazine models, Blunderbuss will not run as a monthly publication, but will be updated frequently with new contributions, Tang said.

The editors do not expect the magazine to yield significant revenue in the near future, Mushett said. The editors will put any grassroots donations that they receive back into the project.

The Lunar New Year began on Sunday, kicking off a traditional 15-day celebration to transition the East Asian world from the Year of the Dragon to the Year of the Snake, the sixth animal of the 12-year Chinese Zodiac cycle. A handful of campus organizations, including the Dartmouth Asian Organization and Korean Student Association, will host community events with food, dancing and games to celebrate the holiday and bring participants luck in the new year.

Dartmouth Asian Organization hosted an event at Brace Commons on Thursday that attracted around 100 students, administrators and community members. The gathering was co-hosted by the Office of Pluralism and Leadership, the Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity, the Pan-Asian Council, the Dartmouth Asian-Pacific American Alumni Association and the Dartmouth Chinese Cultural Society.

Although Dartmouth Asian Organization has been the sole host of its Lunar New Year celebrations in previous years, the group decided to expand the event to spread awareness about the holiday and relieve some of the stress from planning such a large event, president Devin Chu ’14 said.

“Our resources are stretched pretty thin, so it was nice to have some help,” he said. “But most importantly, we wanted to open up to the community and establish a connection with alumni, OPAL and other student groups.”

Families from the Upper Valley with adopted Asian children were invited to attend the event, Dartmouth Chinese Culture Society president Kameko Winborn ’14 said.

Dartmouth Asian Organization’s Lunar New Year celebration incorporated many traditions, including cultural foods, a performance by the Chinese Dance Troupe and “hong bao” gifts to children from the community.

Elders traditionally give “hong bao,” or red envelopes stuffed with money to children for good luck. Instead of money, Dartmouth’s celebration included chocolate coins for children participants.

Other Chinese traditions include eating dumplings and fish, giving gifts and setting off firecrackers to ward off bad luck.

“The most important part of the Lunar New Year is about coming together as a family, kind of like Christmas but for Asian countries,” Winborn said. “It was great to see Dartmouth and the outside community get together like a family.”

Chu said he was excited to see College administrators attend the event this year, in addition to student groups and community members.

“I’m happy about the direction we’re moving in by working with different offices and student groups,” he said. “We’re definitely taking a step toward a larger campus awareness overall.”

Students at the Chinese Language House also commemorated the holiday on Sunday by watching the Chinese Central Television channel’s New Year special and eating traditional Chinese New Year foods like tangerines and “yuanxiao,” which are sticky rice balls in soup, according to Chinese Language House resident Betty Huang ’14.

The Vietnamese Student Association hosted a gathering of undergraduate and graduate students on Saturday at the Sachem Community Center in Lebanon, N.H. to celebrate the new year with traditional Vietnamese food and games, president Ben Nguyen ’14 said.

Students at the event enjoyed rice noodles, spring rolls and a traditional Vietnamese treat called “bang chung,” or steamed rice cakes with pork and mung beans wrapped in banana leaves. Some students played a gambling board game called “bau cua ca cop,” which translates to “squash-crab-fish-tiger,” and several lucky participants received “li xi,” the Vietnamese version of red envelopes.

The Korean Student Association also hosted an event on Friday with Korean undergraduate and graduate students, according to president Jae Hoon Koo ’11. The gathering featured Korean traditions such as “dduk-guk,” a rice cake soup, and “yut-nori,” a team board game, he said.

“At Dartmouth, undergrads and grad students usually aren’t very close,” Koo said. “The Lunar New Year celebration is a catalyst that helps us bond while commemorating traditions.”

This is the second year that the Korean Student Association has organized a gathering for the Lunar New Year, Koo said. Although few non-Koreans attended the event, Lunar New Year celebrations are open to the entire student body.

Efforts to unite the College’s Asian organizations and expand outreach to non-Asian students have increased over the years, according to Winborn. However, since the Lunar New Year coincided with Dartmouth’s Winter Carnival this year, fewer people were aware of the holiday celebrations.

“The Lunar New Year is really central to the Asian community,” Winborn said. “Bringing greater awareness to Dartmouth is a fun way to get people exposed to Asian culture in a celebratory way.”

Although this weekend’s snowstorm left many New England residents huddled inside their homes, it failed to keep Dartmouth students from celebrating this year’s Winter Carnival. Some events were canceled due to unfavorable weather conditions, and others were saved in the nick of time.

Many students said that the snow enhanced their weekend, especially since the last-minute blanket was critical to success of events, including the human dog sled race on Saturday afternoon and sledding events on the Hanover Country Club golf course, Carnival co-chair Michael Perlstein ’14 said.

The race drew large crowds of student participants and observers, as well as spectators from the Hanover community. In total, 45 teams competed.

“People got really into the flair and the competition and seemed to be having a good time,” Perlstein said.

Some snow-related events scheduled for Thursday afternoon, including the Carni Classic, a three-kilometer cross-country ski race on the golf course, and the student snow sculpture building contest, were still canceled, because the snow did not arrive soon enough for them to take place.

The Winter Carnival council was unable to reschedule events for later in the weekend because of other scheduled events and an inability to properly advertise the change, co-chair Mandy Bowers ’14 said.

“Planning is always a risk we have to take when we’re relying on the weather gods to deliver us,” Bowers said.

The weekend’s snowfall contributed to a quiet weekend, with four Good Samaritan calls and two cases of alleged assault, according to Safety and Security director Harry Kinne. These numbers were much lower than previous Carnivals and other big weekends like Homecoming and Green Key, he said. Most reports directed to Safety and Security were related to lost jackets and ice-related falls.

The first call regarding assault involved a confrontation between an undergraduate male student and a male alumnus in the basement of Sigma Delta sorority early in the morning on Feb. 9, Kinne said. Safety and Security was able to locate the individual who had started the fight walking on South Main Street and Hanover Police Department helped respond. The second call relating to assault resulted from a “pushing match” between two female students that occurred in Sarner Underground during the afternoon on Feb. 9, Kinne said. Kinne said he did not believe either incident resulted in arrest.

Minami Hayashi ’16, an exchange student from Japan, said she especially enjoyed the 99-cent ski day on Feb. 1,

“The snow during Winter Carnival will probably remain as one of the highlights of my Dartmouth experience,” she said.

Chi Shing Chan ’13, however, said he was disappointed that there were no fireworks at the Carnival’s opening ceremony on Thursday evening and that the Baker-Library Tower tours scheduled for Saturday and Sunday were canceled.

Seo Yeon Song 13 said she typically does not participate in official Carnival events, but was pleased by the snowfall nonetheless.

“For me, Winter Carnival is mostly a time of relaxing with friends, so I didn’t mind events being canceled,” she said. “But I was rather glad that the snow came when it did so that I could go skating and skiing.”

Some popular events not contingent upon snow, such as the Polar Bear Swim and indoor activities like the Sock Hand Puppet workshop and the Carnival Ball, had high turnout rates. The snow helped to balance the number of events that took place outside and inside.

Perlstein said he was especially pleased with the community’s participation in the arts and crafts activities.

Many students planning to visit campus for Carnival weekend were unable to make the trip because of flight and Dartmouth Coach cancellations. The coach suspended all services after 11 a.m. on Friday and all day Saturday, said Krystal Caney, a ticket agent at Dartmouth Coach in Hanover.

Athletic events for the weekend were canceled as well, including a men’s and women’s track meet scheduled for Friday and Saturday. The meet was the last scheduled meet before the Ivy League Heptagonals Championship on Feb. 23 and 24.

In order to compete, the team scheduled inter-squad races at Leverone Field House instead, Kaitlin McCallum ’16 said.

The snow arrived too late to augment the annual snow sculpture, which was supposed to be Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf facing each other in the center of the Green. “It’s not very good packing snow for sculpture building anyway,” said Bowers.

With past years’ Carnivals characterized by high temperatures and no snowfall, this year’s weather was a welcome change.

The snow “really helped bring more of the winter out of Winter Carnival,” Kevin Xiao ’13 said.

The Greek Leadership Council is spearheading a vote on Tuesday to enact a new policy that will provide guidelines for Greek organization sanctions addressing assault cases. The policy requires a majority vote of 50 percent plus one vote from all Greek chapter presidents under the GLC umbrella.

The proposed policy will provide Greek organizations with baseline criteria to adhere to, but it will not replace the established internal procedures at each organization, GLC moderator Duncan Hall ’13 said. Individual Greek organizations will be able to add to the policy through their own individual procedures.

The new policy, if voted into effect, will ensure that Greek organizations comply through funding stipulations.

“Part of the privilege of being in the GLC is receiving GLC funding,” Hall said. “So if this is passed, if you are not complying with the Greek standards, then you don’t get the Greek benefits.”

When drafting the new policy, committee leaders were concerned about creating a policy that did not “overshadow” the Panhellenic Council’s existing informal policy on assault, Greek Letter Organizations and Societies director Wes Schaub said. In the spring of 2011, the Panhellenic Council voted unanimously to collectively suspend events with a Greek organization where assault had occurred if that organization failed to launch formal adjudication procedures within 24 hours of notification.

While there is potential for the existing Panhellenic policy and the new proposed GLC policy to work together, they will be implemented through different channels if the GLC policy passes, Panhellenic Council president Sarah Wildes ’13 said.

The proposed assault policy is an attempt at a comprehensive policy.

“They decided to look at the entire issue of assault and how can we accomplish a number of different things under one policy instead of creating all these different pieces of a policy,” Schaub said.

The policy was drafted by members of all five GLC sub-councils the Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Council, Coed Council, National Association of Latino/a Fraternal Organizations and National Panhellenic Counil, GLC spokesperson Ali Essey ’13 said in an email.

Despite the administration’s heightened scrutiny of Greek organizations, Hall said the policy is a student-led initiative that will function as an additional level of sanctions on those already in place in individual organizations.

GLC’s current policy requires all new Greek members to participate in a Mentors Against Violence facilitation program. Individual Greek organizations also have internal adjudication procedures that they use to deal with cases of misconduct including assault.

“I think any steps that hold organizations accountable for the actions of their members and give them some teeth in that regard is inevitably effective,” he said.

A special committee of six Greek leaders, selected by Hall out of nominees appointed by the five sub-councils under GLC, began drafting the policy this term. The committee comprises of male and female members and includes representatives from local and national fraternities and sororities as well as coed houses, Wildes said.

Members of Greek houses who are tasked with judging and implementing sanctions do not always hold their fellow members accountable, Sherrill said. Their bias is “perpetuated by the weakness in the existing system,” he said.

The proposed policy will address reluctant Greek organizations and differences in adjudication systems by providing guidelines for sanctions against cases of assault.

Anna Fagin ’13, vice president of the Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault, said that student-led initiatives to prevent assault are important for implementing change on campus.

“I think that student initiative is always a good thing,” Fagin said. “Students taking ownership of their own organizations and experiences is fantastic.”

Leaders of the SPCSA act as intermediaries between the administration and student body, gathering feedback from the administration on behalf of students and relaying student opinion on sexual assault issues to the administration.

SPCSA is independent of to GLOS and did not play a role in bringing about the proposed policy change.

The proposed assault policy is one of three issues GLC began considering to revamp in the spring. Binge drinking and hazing will also be considered, Wildes said. If the policy fails to pass, GLC will revise it and conduct further research on assault.

While GLC leaders review existing assault policies annually and consider policies to strengthen those in place, the policy under consideration this Tuesday is a new and more comprehensive proposal.

**The original version of this article misstated the majority vote required to pass a new GLC policy. It is 50 percent plus one vote, not two-thirds.*

Despite suffering a tough loss against Cornell University on Sunday, the Dartmouth men’s basketball team pulled off a win in a nail-biter against Columbia University on Friday night, breaking their 24-game road losing streak in Ivy League play. Columbia’s final efforts in the last minutes and a couple of missed free throws were not enough to top the Big Green (6-14, 2-4 Ivy), who finished ahead 60-57.

Dartmouth was an offensive threat, hitting 23 out of 45 shots overall, assisted by Connor Boehm ’16 with 20 points, and Alex Mitola ’16 with 17. Both teams came out of the game strong, with 20 lead changes in the first half alone. At the end of the period Dartmouth finished on top with a three-point lead, 29-26.

“We had a great mindset coming into the game,” Gabas Maldunas ’15 said. “We focused on rebounding and moving the ball around more.”

The team took that momentum with them into the second half, quickly racking up an 11-point lead with Tyler Melville ’14 scoring seven and assisting on a layup by John Golden ’15 almost five minutes into the second half. The Lions would not be tamed, though, and responded with a 14-2 run of their own featuring three consecutive triples the only three-pointers Columbia (10-10, 2-4 Ivy) would hit all night. Boehm finally put an end to Columbia’s spurt with back-to-back 12-foot baseline jumpers to give the Big Green a 46-43 advantage with seven minutes left to play.

“We did a great job of executing the game plan of attacking inside and pushing the tempo,” Melville said. “We didn’t get rattled.”

As the game drew to a close, the atmosphere was tense as Columbia tied the game with a three-point play and free throw before the Lions’ senior forward John Daniels gave Columbia a 54-52 lead with a sensational slam dunk with 2:41 left in the game. Dartmouth was not going to let this game slip through their fingers, however. Mitola took control of the ball, sinking a free throw and driving through the lane for a layup to take the lead, then stealing the ball back and nailing a three-pointer to solidify a 58-54 lead with one minute remaining.

“In the second half, our team played with poise and composure,” Boehm said. “We hit our free throws, stayed confident under their pressure and rebounded well.”

More Columbia free throws in the last minute cut the lead more and more, but with 31.5 seconds to play, Melville hit two key free throws to crush the Lions’ hopes of a last-minute victory and boost the Dartmouth lead to three points.

“We really emphasized the fact that we needed to finish the entire game,” Melville said. “We were not going to be content with being up in the first half.”

Columbia tried twice to get a three-pointer but the shooters were off the mark both times, giving Dartmouth the victory. Columbia went on to beat Harvard, who the Big Green lost to in overtime on Jan. 26, on Sunday, emphasizing the significance of the win.

It was a completely different story in Ithaca on Sunday afternoon when Dartmouth faced Cornell (11-12, 3-3 Ivy). The journey did not start off well when Dartmouth’s bus got stuck in the snow and the game had to be moved from Saturday evening to Sunday afternoon.

“We just did not show up for the game,” Maldunas said. “Having a day off in between games kind of screwed us up.”

The Big Green shot just 28.6 percent and struggled to keep up with Cornell the entire game, which ended in a 79-56 loss.

The Big Red set the tone of the game from the outset, starting with a 10-2 lead in the first few minutes featuring two triples. On the fourth Dartmouth turnover in the first six minutes of the game, the Big Red got a fast break layup, marking the first of 18 points Cornell would score on the break.

“Cornell was a tough matchup for us,” Boehm said. “They are much more athletic and aggressive on defense than we are used to.”

Dartmouth tried to retaliate with a shot by Maldunas and free throws by Jvonte Brooks ’15 and Melville, but the Big Green could not stand up to hot-shooting Cornell, who took a swift 29-12 lead with another 10-point run. Shooting at 63 percent during the opening half, it was no surprise that Cornell took a 45-23 lead into the break.

“They deserved to win this game,” Melville said.

The Big Green could not manage to get things started offensively in the second half either, letting Cornell’s lead waver between 21 and 27 points until the Big Red reached its biggest lead at 8:31 with a score of 64-35. Dartmouth fought back with a 9-1 run started by Melville with a three-point play and ended with another layup by Melville. A Mitola three-pointer and a Melville jumper cut the deficit down to 18, but that would be as close as the Big Green would get in their 79-56 defeat.

Dartmouth did manage to end the game with the edge in rebounding 40-34, however, but 18 Big Green turnovers that led to 24 Big Red points were the nail in the coffin for Dartmouth.

“We need to focus on our defense,” Maldunas said. “We played pretty well on the defensive end against Columbia, which led to better offensive possessions, but we could not stop Cornell. It is a lot harder to score when somebody scores on you.”

The Big Green returns home next weekend to face Princeton University on Friday and the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday. Both games will be played at 7 p.m. in Leede Arena.

On Friday night at Thompson Arena, the Dartmouth women’s hockey team defeated Brown University by a score of 2-0. Although the team had been slated to take on Yale University Saturday night, the game was delayed until Monday due to inclement weather.

The Big Green (13-7-4, 8-6-3 ECAC) had already defeated the Bears (4-17-1, 3-14-0 ECAC) once this season by 1-0 in Providence, R.I. In both meetings, shots and goals were tough to come by with Brown’s tightly packed defense.

“Brown’s a pretty stay-at-home, clog- the-middle kind of team,” forward Laura Stacey ’16 said. “We just made a point of dominating from the first shift. Our offensive philosophy made a difference right off the bat.”

The game against Brown came on the heels of Dartmouth’s biggest game of the season, a 2-2 tie against No. 5 Harvard University. After playing such an important game on national television, the team feared a letdown when playing the Bears, the second-worst ranked team in the ECAC. Dartmouth put those fears to rest early on with a dominating first shift that did not yield a goal, but set the tone early on for what turned out to be a convincing Big Green win.

“It can definitely be a little harder to get up for this kind of game,” forward Lindsey Allen ’16 said. “Coach made sure we knew not to take them lightly because they’re still a team that can play well, even if they’re not doing well this season.”

The scoring did not start until late in the first period, when Stacey knocked in an impressive goal her sixth of the season. At 17:05, with about three minutes to go in the opening period, Dartmouth broke the puck out of the defensive zone when Karlee Odland ’15 tipped the puck high off the glass. The puck went over Stacey’s head, ricocheted off a defender and landed back on Stacey’s stick before she deposited it in the back of the net.

“The defender tried to kick the puck away,” Stacey said. “It bounced through her legs and sort of jumped around before I got it. I knew the goalie wasn’t expecting a shot right then, so I held it for a second and then put it in.”

The Big Green hot streak continued at the start of the second period when Dartmouth notched an insurance goal to push the lead to two. At 1:27, Reagan Fischer ’12 scored, assisted by Jenna Hobeika ’12 and Camille Dumais ’13.

“Cam passed the puck to Jenna, and then Jenna drove wide,” Allen said. “She pulled a defender with her and then spun and stopped in the corner. That gave her, like, a half second of space and she found Reagan. It seemed like the goalie thought Reagan’s shot would go wide, but it ended up sneaking in.”

The 2-0 lead proved to be more than enough for the Big Green, particularly given goaltender Lindsay Holdcroft 14’s stellar performance in net. Holdcroft made 15 saves and earned a shutout, her third of the season and 11th of her career. Holdcroft has not allowed more than two goals in a game since early December.

Dartmouth shut down the Brown power play, successfully killing five penalties over the course of the game.

“Some teams play more of a passive box penalty kill,” Holdcroft said. “We rotate and we work really hard on it in practice. Coach always tells us that you’re not a man down until you’re in the zone, so we try and keep them from getting into their power play.”

Home-ice dominance by the Big Green squad is becoming the norm, and the Big Green have not lost one of its past six games at Thompson Arena,

“One underrated part about our home wins is that most of them have been the second time we played the teams,” Allen said. “It’s nice playing at our own rink on our own schedules after sleeping in our own beds.”

Dartmouth’s Saturday game against Yale was delayed until Monday due to the snow. The squad will now play three games this week instead of the usual two, giving them an opportunity to jump a spot from sixth in the ECAC standings.

“Having the Monday game is going to be very different for us, but I think it’s going to end up being good,” Holdcroft said. “We got to really focus on the Friday game and it was nice to have Saturday and Sunday off to do some work. I think the team’s definitely going to respond well.”

The Big Green takes the ice again Monday at 5 p.m. in Thompson Arena against the Bulldogs. Over the weekend, they will travel to Colgate University and Cornell University for two pivotal road games as the season rapidly approaches its conclusion.

The Big Green women’s basketball team took an early lead against scrappy Columbia University on Saturday in Leede Arena and managed to fend off a late comeback by the Lions (2-17, 0-5 Ivy) to win by a score of 62-52.

“It was an ugly win, but a win is a win,” captain Faziah Steen ’13 said.

Going into the game, the Big Green (6-13, 4-1 Ivy) women knew that Columbia would put up a fight with its aggressive defense, and went in prepared to meet the Lions with strong offensive play. Tia Dawson ’15 netted an early layup with 18:57 left on the clock, beginning the momentum for the Big Green. A little less than six minutes into the game, the Big Green women scored three baskets in the span of one minute, with a three-pointer from Steen, a layup just 15 seconds later from Abbey Schmitt ’15 on a beautiful assist from Kaitana Martinez ’16 and a jumper by Nicola Zimmer ’14 on another assist from Martinez. The flow of points, though initially fast, slowed down throughout the first half as both teams began fighting hard and playing more aggressively.

Schmitt, Dawson and Steen all reached double digits during the game, putting up most of the points for the Big Green. Schmitt hit a game high with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Schmidt joins Dawson as the only team members to achieve doubles-doubles this season.

“They were getting a lot of rebounds so I was trying to combat theirs,” Schmitt said.

Throughout the game, the Big Green threw long passes to surpass Columbia’s defense and Martinez and Zimmer consistently moved the ball forward with accurate passes, particularly during the first half. Dartmouth applied heat throughout, with Dawson scoring the last points of the half to give the Big Green a 33-20 lead headed into the locker room.

The team made smarter shots this game, which is something they have had problems with in the past, Dawson said.

Dartmouth shot a season best of 63.6 percent in the first half. With an overall 52.2 in the contest, this game was the third in a row that the Big Green shot 40 percent or better.

The second half proved more difficult for the Big Green as the pace of play increased and Dartmouth faced communication issues. The Big Green took careless shots, but maintained a significant lead despite sloppy play.

“We did take some shots too quickly in the second half, but we survived,” Schmitt said.

With about five minutes remaining in the game, Columbia began mounting its comeback. A layup with 5:31 remaining and two free throws 21 seconds later brought the Lions within seven points of the Big Green. About a minute later, Columbia scored two more points from the charity stripe, followed by a three-pointer from sophomore Miwa Tachibana to bring the score to 55-51 with 3:25 remaining. However, this was the closest the Lions would get, as Dartmouth responded with a layup from Schmitt following a Big Green timeout. The Big Green was five for seven from the free throw line in the last 1:56 of the game, helping the team secure the win as the clock wound down.

“They turned up their defense so that’s why we struggled a bit,” Dawson said.

An injury for Martinez forced her to exit the game with a black eye five minutes remaining in the second half. She returned in the last minute or so, helping Dartmouth close out the win.

Steen said that the Lions were able to secure many second chance points, which diminished the Big Green’s time on offense. Coach Chris Wielgus gave credit to Columbia for making the Big Green work.

“It was a game of alternating currents,” Wielgus said.

The Columbia game was originally scheduled for Friday, while a contest against Cornell University was planned for Saturday.

Following inclement weather, Dartmouth’s contest against Cornell (10-9, 2-3 Ivy) was rescheduled indefinitely and the Columbia game was moved to Saturday.

The team did not let these scheduling changes detract from its goal and remained focused on the task at hand.

“We just really wanted to play the game,” Schmitt said. “We were ready.”

Going forward, Schmitt said the Big Green hopes to continue improving and bringing high energy to practice.

After its struggle to adapt to Columbia’s changing defensive tactics, Dawson said that the team needs to work on being more flexible offensively so it can score on different types of defense.

The Big Green looks to continue its success on the road next weekend, facing Princeton University on Friday and the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday.

The weekend’s winter storm did not stop the No. 17 Big Green from hitting the road to take on Harvard University at the Bright Hockey Center in Cambridge, Mass on Sunday. The tight game against the Crimson (5-15-2, 3-12-1 ECAC) ended with a 1-1 tie in overtime.

With just one month left until the first round of the ECAC Championship, this match marked the second time that Dartmouth played the Crimson. Harvard faced off against the Big Green (11-8-4, 7-6-3 ECAC) on Jan. 12, but the Crimson fell victim to a goal from forward Jesse Beamish ’15 that put Dartmouth ahead with a 3-2 victory. The Crimson entered yesterday’s game riding an eight-game losing streak.

With the close standings in the ECAC, every game is a challenge, coach Dave Peters said.

“It really was a hard-earned tie on the road and the guys battled really hard,” he said. “In this league, where seven or eight teams are separated by just a few points, every game is a dogfight and we go into every game expecting it to be tight.”

Dartmouth played the Crimson on Sunday instead of Saturday as originally scheduled, due to inclement weather. The 1-1 outcome marks an increase in momentum from the past weekend’s match on Feb. 2 against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which the Big Green lost 3-0.

At 9:53 in the first period, Andy Simpson ’15 scored his second goal of the season with assists from Eric Robinson ’14 and Brad Schierhorn ’15, giving the Big Green an early advantage. Harvard responded during a power play in the second period at 13:03 with a point from senior forward Marshall Everson, on assists by senior Alex Fallstrom and senior Colin Blackwell.

“Harvard doesn’t really match up against us because we have really skilled players and our goal- tending skills are great,” forward Matt Lindblad ’14 said. “We had momentum the entire game, but because of calls by the referees, Harvard was able to score on us with a lucky shot, which happens.”

“We came out fired up to start the game and that’s where our first goal came from,” defenseman Rick Pinkston ’15 said. “Throughout, it was a pressure-filled game.”

In the third period, neither team could put up a strong enough performance offensively, with Dartmouth just narrowly outshooting the Crimson by one for a total of seven shots on goal. The fourth period showed the potential for a tiebreaker for the Big Green with just over three minutes left in the match. However, the goal was disallowed after a referee ruled that Keenan was in the crease.

“It was definitely a tough game, and there were flashes and moments where it looked like we had the chance to score again, so the call on the last goal was really very disappointing,” Sikura said.

Overtime was similar to the third period with neither team mounting much of an offensive attack, as Girard stopped the only three shots on net during the final five minutes.

“We generated a lot of chances, went to the net really hard, and had a really strong performance by the defense,” Peters said. “Hopefully, we can get a good week of practice in and build on it for the weekend.”

Yesterday’s tie will not seriously affect the Big Green’s place in the rankings.

“We’re still in a good position in terms of rankings, but every game means a lot,” said forward Tyler Sikura ’15.

Dartmouth will host Cornell University (8-13-2, 4-10-2 ECAC) on Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. and Colgate University on Feb. 16 at 7 p.m.

“Cornell is a team with a great history behind them and we’re really looking forward to playing with them,” Sikura said. “The fact of the matter is, any team can beat each other in this league.”

Battling swirling snow and raging winds, the Dartmouth ski team raced to a second-place finish at its home Carnival this weekend, after the alpine portion of competition was postponed due to high winds at the Dartmouth Skiway. The Big Green won both Nordic races on Friday and continued to see success on Saturday to reach a second-place point total of 871, behind Vermont’s 977.

As this weekend’s winter storm wreaked havoc on the Dartmouth Skiway, Oak Hill Cross Country Ski Center was also adversely affected when rain and warm temperatures earlier in the week destroyed ground cover. Friday and Saturday’s Nordic events were moved to the Craftsbury Outdoor Center. Craftsbury’s conditions also left something to be desired, with soft snow proving problematic for some skiers.

“We haven’t skied in conditions like that in a long time,” Nordic coach Cami Thompson-Graves said. “During Friday’s race in particular, it was incredibly soft with a lot of snow, so some people struggled.”

The Big Green had a great showing in Craftsbury, with the Nordic women defeating UVM by eight points in the five-kilometer classic and the Nordic men beating UVM by two in the 10-kilometer classic.

Leading the Big Green, Sam Tarling ’13 took second place in the 10-kilometer classic with a 30:16.5. Tarling was followed by Silas Talbot ’15 in third place with a 30:36.3 and David Sinclair ’14 in fifth with a 30.52.9. UVM’s Scott Patterson won the event with a 29:55.8.

“Last week at the UVM Carnival, we came so close to taking first place,” Talbot said. “This week, we wanted to see if we could get closer and get more guys in the top spots. Hosting our own carnival is definitely a lot of fun, and it seemed like a great opportunity to ski well and try to maximize our points.”

The Nordic women took the fourth, fifth and sixth spots to win the five-kilometer classic. Annie Hart ’14, who recently returned to the Big Green after skiing in Europe, narrowly missed third place by half a second to take fourth in 17:05.7. Corey Stock ’16 took fifth place in 17:10.5 and Mary O’Connell ’16 took sixth in 17:13.8.

While UVM’s Anja Gruber won the race with a 16:43.3, the Big Green trio accumulated 117 points to take first in the event. Hart said she was glad to race for the Big Green again because of the team dynamic and she appreciates that skiers are racing for a team rather than an individual victory.

“At our carnival this weekend, we just focused on building on the momentum from the weekend before,” Hart said. “If you’re having a good time, a good race will follow.”

The alpine team got off to a solid start on Friday as well. In the women’s giant slalom, Lizzie Kistler ’16 placed fourth with a combined time of 2:06.89, following the UVM women’s trio that took the first three spots on the podium. Abby Fucigna ’15 took seventh place with a 2:08.94 and Annie Rendall ’13 placed 18th with a 2:10.42. The women took second place in the event overall with 101 points, pulling ahead of Middlebury by just one point.

In the men’s giant slalom, Ben Morse ’14 just missed out on the podium, coming in fourth place with a combined 2:01.11. Trace Smith ’15 placed 10th with a 2:01.86 and Hunter Black ’15 placed 20th in a time of 2:03.37. The men combined to score 95 points, putting the team in fourth place behind UVM, Middlebury and the University of New Hampshire.

Although the men’s and women’s slalom races were postponed on Saturday, the Nordic three-by-five-kilometer freestyle relays were as scheduled. The Big Green men and women each posted the fastest times to sweep the Nordic events for the Carnival.

“I think the team was incredibly fired up about the relay, Thompson-Graves said. “They really enjoy working with their teammates, and it was a fun part of the carnival.”

In the men’s relay, Scott Lacy ’13, Talbot and Tarling won the event by more than nine seconds with a 41:58.7, thanks to an outstanding push by Tarling, who brought the team from fourth place to first in the final five-kilometer leg. Erik Fagerstrom ’14, Sinclair and Steven Mangan ’14 placed second.

In the women’s event, Hart joined O’Connell and Stock for a first place victory, winning the relay by almost a minute with a 47:57.7. Megan Killigrew ’13, Emily Blackmer ’13 and Carly Wynn ’15 took sixth place with a time of 51:05.8.

After Saturday’s cancellations, the women’s and men’s giant slalom scores were doubled to calculate the final results of the carnival. UVM placed second in every race, giving the Catamounts the victory at the Big Green’s Carnival. Middlebury finished third with 785 points.

Although the men’s and women’s slalom races will not contribute to the carnival standings, they will take place on Sunday at the Dartmouth Skiway as standalone NCAA collegiate races.